St. Francis defensive tackle Tyler Manoa, a 4-star recruit, recognized as one of top high school players in the nation

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St. Francis senior Tyler Manoa poses in between a pair of U.S. Army representatives after he was presented a jersey for the 2018 U.S. Army All-American Bowl during a ceremony at the Mountain View campus on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017. (St. Francis Athletics)

St. Francis senior Tyler Manoa poses in between a pair of U.S. Army representatives after he was presented a jersey for the 2018 U.S. Army All-American Bowl during a ceremony at the Mountain View campus on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017. (St. Francis Athletics)

Four years later, he’s one of the most sought-after players in high school football, with his college choices down to four Pac-12 programs: Arizona, Cal, UCLA and Utah.

His first offer, though, came the summer before his junior year after attending a football camp at BYU.

“I went to lunch and that was the first school that I committed to,” Manoa said. “And then after my junior season, things started to roll in and I just wanted to take a bigger look at everything and make sure that I was making the right decision. So I decommitted and that’s when everything started coming in.”

One offer he couldn’t refuse was an invitation to play in the 2018 U.S. Army All-American Bowl, which will be televised on NBC from the Alamodome in San Antonio on Jan. 6.

“When I first got the call I was speechless,” said Manoa, who was contacted by Scout national recruiting director Brandon Huffman last month with the news. “The first person I called was my brother. And then he relayed the message to everybody else.”

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Friends, family and St. Francis faculty gathered last Thursday in front of the Burns Family Pavilion as the 2018 U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Tour stopped by the campus.

As the overflowing crowd blocked traffic in the middle of campus during the lunch break, Manoa was presented a jersey for the bowl game.

“Man, I didn’t think everybody would come out like this,” he said

Previous players selected as U.S. Army All-Americans include Andrew Luck, Odell Beckham Jr. and Tim Tebow.

“It’s a very cool honor for Tyler and for our program,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said. “He’s the first guy that we’ve had represent us in the game and we certainly think he’s one of the top 100 in the nation and certainly represents everything we want to do on and off the field — a good student, a good leader and a heck of a football player.”

“Being able to represent my family and my school is a great blessing,” Manoa said. “To be able to go down to San Antonio in January and compete with the best of the best is going to be a challenge and it’s going to be definitely something that I’m looking forward to.”

He added: “But definitely still gotta put my head down and go to work.”

“We’re so happy and proud for him, for his accomplishments,” said Janice Manoa, his mother. “It’s been his dream, and then for us as parents, we wanted him to succeed like this and get this far.”

Football is apparently in the family’s genetic pool, seeing as his uncle Tim Manoa played four years in the NFL from 1987 to 1991 as a running back out of Penn State.

“So a lot of people say, ‘Is this the Manoa trade right here?’ And I say, ‘Yes,’ ” said Ofa Manoa, his father, who grew up playing rugby. “But I want to thank this school here. They are the one that made it happen for my son. I want to thank the coaching staff, the athletic director, to push him to become Tyler today.”

“It’s opened a lot of doors for him coming to this school,” Janice Manoa said.

Tyler, who turns 18 in December, was asked to identify someone who believed in him, who inspired his pursuit with the American Family Insurance Dream Champion Award.

His choice turned out to be a no-brainer.

“My parents, I love them so much,” Manoa said. “So very grateful for everything they do for me, sacrifices they make are incredible for me to able to attend this great school.”

Even his coach earned recognition with a plaque, as well as an invitation to the U.S. Army Coaches Academy in San Antonio on Bowl Week.

“Probably our whole staff will go out, so we’ll just split it,” Calcagno said. “We’ll make it a coaches’ weekend and have some fun being able to watch him play and enjoy it from the stands.”

It took almost two full seasons before Calcagno got to watch Manoa from the sidelines, with a promotion as a sophomore to varsity for the 2015 Central Coast Section playoffs.

“Even for us, he played on the junior varsity just because we had such small numbers on that group, but we knew he could play at a higher level,” Calcagno said. “He sacrificed for the team and the program. And when we went up and played in the state championship game, in that run he came in and played as a sophomore with no name on his back, but we knew he could play.”

“You’ve got to wait your turn, next man up,” Manoa said.

Manoa, a co-captain, anchors a defense that features other NCAA Division I talent, including four-star outside linebacker Joshua Pakola and three-star athlete Junior Fehoko.

“That brotherhood is unbreakable,” Manoa said. “Yeah, we sometimes slack, but we all hold each other accountable to what we need to do.”

The mission is to keep teams out of the end zone under the scrutiny of Friday night lights.

“Especially here at home, in front of our student section, the Rage Cage,” Manoa said. “It’s great just to be here, just to showcase your ability and to play with all your buddies. And just to compete in the WCAL is great. It’s definitely the best league in the Bay Area.”

It definitely doesn’t get much bigger than St. Francis (4-2, 2-1 WCAL) against one of its biggest rivals in Serra (4-2, 3-0), teams that met last year in the CCS Open Division II semifinals, a 31-17 loss for the Lancers that left a bad taste in their mouths.

Plus, it’s a chance to show the Padres what they’re missing — a U.S. Army All-American.

“That’s going to be a big one,” Manoa said. “Definitely that Serra game will be good to try and get some revenge on them for losing to them twice last year. I’ve got a lot of homies over there, so it’s going to be fun just to play against them one more time, and hopefully come out victorious.”

Vytas Mazeika is a sports reporter at The Daily News based out of Menlo Park. He covers athletics at every level, from high school to Stanford to the pros. He also designs the sports pages and copy edits for The Daily News print edition. Mazeika graduated from Carlmont High in 1994 and earned an English bachelor's degree from UCLA.